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September 19, 2008
Yet another reason to love the New York Times.
One of the joys of a good Times article is writer's use of subtle observational detail to make a larger point, done in a way that gives credit to the reader's ability to pay attention. Writing on the media-neglected campaign appearances of Joe Biden, currently playing "fourth or fifth fiddle" in this election cycle, the similarly non-heralded writer Mark Leibovich notes:
In an interview, [Biden] rejected any notion that his message was not being heard. “I just don’t get that, I don’t see any evidence of that,” he said in the back office of the Maumee Elks Lodge.
I also love Joe Biden, for countering criticism of his taxes-as-patriotic-duty comments with this:
How many small businessmen are making one million, four hundred thousand--average in the top 1 percent. Give me a break. I remind my friend, John McCain, what he said--when Bush called for war and tax cuts--he said, it was immoral, immoral, to take a nation to war and not have anybody pay for it. I am so sick and tired of this phoniness. The truth of the matter is that we are in trouble. And the people who do not need a new tax cut should be willing, as patriotic Americans, to understand the way to get this economy back up on their feet is to give middle class taxpayers a break. We take the tax cut they're getting and we give it to the middle class.
